Inmates Use Rope to Escape High-Rise Jail

This undated photo provided by the FBI shows , Kenneth Conley, left and Jose Banks two inmates who escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Lazarro says their disappearance was discovered at about 8:45 Tuesday morning. Lazarro says the pair used a rope or bed sheets to climb from the building. (AP Photo/FBI,HOPD)

CHICAGO (AP) -- Employees at a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago knew something wasn't right when they arrived to work and saw a makeshift rope hanging from a cell window about 20 stories above ground. Authorities believe the handiwork discovered Tuesday morning was that of convicted bank robbers Joseph "Jose" Banks and Kenneth Conley. They're the first inmates to flee the Metropolitan Correctional Center in nearly two decades. They remained at large early Wednesday. The men apparently scaled down about 20 stories using the rope. But when they escaped remains unclear. An FBI affidavit states they were at a 10 p.m. headcount Monday. The U.S. Marshals Service says they were unaccounted for during a 5 a.m. count Tuesday. The FBI says another count was conducted around 7 a.m. after employees noticed the rope.

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